Abstract: We're going to do things a bit differently in this review. Instead of focusing on high end videocards, we're going to look at what SLI can do for mainstream users with a pair of Geforce 8500GT videocards running in SLI. 75% Rating:

Videocard Benchmarks: FarCry

Real-time
editing, bump mapping, static lights, network system, integrated physics system,
shaders, shadows, and a dynamic music system are just some of the state
of-the-art features that the CryENGINE offers. The game was set to Ultra quality
and the Ubisoft's Regulator and Training demos were run.

CryTek FarCry 1.33:

UQ Regulator 1024x768:

FPS

Ranking

Diamond Viper Radeon HD 2900XT

120.73

Diamond Viper Radeon HD 2900XT CrossFire

108.09

MSI RX2600XT Diamond

114.32

Asus EAX1900XTX 2DHTV/512M/A

115.87

Asus EAX1950PRO/HTDP/256M/A

117.69

MSI NX8800GTX-T2D768E

124.21

Foxconn FV-N88SMCD2-ONOC

126.13

MSI NX8800GTS-T2D320E-HD-OC

115.3

GeForce 8600GTS SLI

123.48

Foxconn 8600GTS-256

116.48

MSI NX8600GTS-T2D256E-OC

117.73

Albatron 8600GT-256

105.18

MSI NX8500GT-TD256E

57.56

MSI
NX7950GX2-T2D1GE

118.75

MSI
NX7900GTX-T2D512E

122.88

MSI
NX7900GS-T2D512E-OC

113.26

Gigabyte
GV-NX76T256D-RH

110.03

Biostar Sigma-Gate
GeForce 7600GS

102.56

Gigabyte
GV-NX85T256H (dual GFX cards in SLI)

98.47

UQ Training 1024x768:

FPS

Ranking

Diamond Viper Radeon
HD 2900XT

131.19

Diamond Viper Radeon
HD 2900XT CrossFire

124.66

MSI RX2600XT
Diamond

128.65

Asus EAX1900XTX
2DHTV/512M/A

131.43

Asus
EAX1950PRO/HTDP/256M/A

130.58

MSI
NX8800GTX-T2D768E

137.25

Foxconn
FV-N88SMCD2-ONOC

137.81

MSI
NX8800GTS-T2D320E-HD-OC

127.59

GeForce 8600GTS SLI

136.92

Foxconn 8600GTS-256

130.69

MSI
NX8600GTS-T2D256E-OC

131.94

Albatron 8600GT-256

112.64

MSI NX8500GT-TD256E

70.27

MSI
NX7950GX2-T2D1GE

129.18

MSI
NX7900GTX-T2D512E

134.36

MSI
NX7900GS-T2D512E-OC

124.41

Gigabyte
GV-NX76T256D-RH

119.26

Biostar Sigma-Gate
GeForce 7600GS

108.29

Gigabyte
GV-NX85T256H (dual GFX cards in SLI)

115.68

UQ Regulator 1600x1200:

FPS

Ranking

Diamond Viper Radeon
HD 2900XT

117.29

Diamond Viper Radeon
HD 2900XT CrossFire

107.75

MSI RX2600XT
Diamond

67.44

Asus EAX1900XTX
2DHTV/512M/A

108.28

Asus
EAX1950PRO/HTDP/256M/A

94.26

MSI
NX8800GTX-T2D768E

122.19

Foxconn
FV-N88SMCD2-ONOC

119.11

MSI
NX8800GTS-T2D320E-HD-OC

112.11

GeForce 8600GTS SLI

109.53

Foxconn 8600GTS-256

70.3

MSI
NX8600GTS-T2D256E-OC

71.38

Albatron 8600GT-256

58.37

MSI NX8500GT-TD256E

29.96

MSI
NX7950GX2-T2D1GE

117.08

MSI
NX7900GTX-T2D512E

112.5

MSI
NX7900GS-T2D512E-OC

97.63

Gigabyte
GV-NX76T256D-RH

66.06

Biostar Sigma-Gate
GeForce 7600GS

56.36

Gigabyte
GV-NX85T256H (dual GFX cards in SLI)

44.73

UQ Training 1600x1200:

FPS

Ranking

Diamond Viper Radeon
HD 2900XT

130.11

Diamond Viper Radeon
HD 2900XT CrossFire

125.26

MSI RX2600XT
Diamond

78.37

Asus EAX1900XTX
2DHTV/512M/A

120.36

Asus
EAX1950PRO/HTDP/256M/A

106.7

MSI
NX8800GTX-T2D768E

136.02

Foxconn
FV-N88SMCD2-ONOC

131.12

MSI
NX8800GTS-T2D320E-HD-OC

124.26

GeForce 8600GTS SLI

121.42

Foxconn 8600GTS-256

84.36

MSI
NX8600GTS-T2D256E-OC

85.68

Albatron 8600GT-256

64.42

MSI NX8500GT-TD256E

32.18

MSI
NX7950GX2-T2D1GE

129.1

MSI
NX7900GTX-T2D512E

120.3

MSI
NX7900GS-T2D512E-OC

103.38

Gigabyte
GV-NX76T256D-RH

71.5

Biostar Sigma-Gate
GeForce 7600GS

60.04

Gigabyte
GV-NX85T256H (dual GFX cards in SLI)

56.38

At lower resolutions the dual SLI GeForce 8500GT combo
performs pretty well, but at 1600x1200 two 8500GTs are more in GeForce 8600GT
range instead of at 8600GTS levels.